HYDERABAD: A division bench of the High Court on Friday directed the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments to file detailed counter affidavits in a taken-up case with regard to non-payment of compensation to farmers despite utilising their agricultural fields for laying electrical towers and lines.
“Why was compensation not paid when electrical lines were laid through farmers’ agricultural fields?” the bench asked.
The bench, comprising chief justice TBN Radhakrishnan and justice Ramesh Ranganathan, was dealing with a taken-up case based on a letter written by P Chengal Reddy, representing Consortium of Indian Farmers Association (CIFA), to the chief justice seeking intervention of the court for compensation payment to the farmers.
The letter said power transmission companies had been denying compensation to thousands of farmers in AP and Telangana since 2003 in violation of the Electricity Act 2003 and the Works of Licensees Rules 2006 of the Centre and the AP Works of Licensees Rules 2007.